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Major Update: Adobe adds tone curve, split toning and more to Lightroom CC

13 Dec

The tone curve, one of the most important features missing from Lightroom CC 1.0, is finally being added. Photo: Adobe

Adobe has launched a major update to the entirely Lightroom CC ecosystem today, releasing major updates for Lightroom CC on Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, and the web, in addition to a few updates for Lightroom Classic CC and Adobe Camera Raw. If you’re a Creative Cloud subscriber, you’ll want to update ASAP.

Here’s what Adobe has in store for you with this latest Lightroom update.

Tone Curve and Split Toning

Two of the most useful and conspicuously absent features in Lightroom CC 1.0 were the Tone Curve and Split Toning. Well, there’s no longer any reason to hop back into Lightroom Classic CC to take advantage of these: they’re coming to Lightroom CC.

You’ll find the Tone Curve next to the Auto button in the Light panel, where you can choose between Parametric Curve or Point Curve modes, as well as the Red, Green, and Blue channels.

Split Toning lives in the Effects panel, where you can … well … split tone.

Adobe Sensei Auto Mode

Another major feature improvement coming with the December update is Auto mode, which is now much more intelligent thanks to Adobe Sensei artificial intelligence platform. From Adobe’s blog post about the update:

Using an advanced neural network powered by Adobe Sensei, our artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning platform, the new Auto Settings creates a better photo by analyzing your photo and comparing to tens of thousands of professionally edited photos to create a beautiful, pleasing image.

This new Auto mode is launching ecosystem wide—you’ll find it in Lightroom CC, Lightroom CC for iOS, Lightroom CC for Android, Lightroom CC on the web, Lightroom Classic, and Adobe Camera Raw (ACR).

Everything Else

The three updates above are the most impactful, but the December update comes with a bit more to enjoy.

Lightroom CC now lets you change the capture time of an image or batch of images (“providing relief for those times that you forgot to change your camera’s time or time zone settings.”).
Lightroom CC for Android received several bug fixes and the ability to launch directly into popular modes from the home screen by pressing and holding the app icon.
Lightroom CC for iOS now lets you create and customize a text based watermark for your images on export, and HDR capture has been improved.
Lightroom Classic CC and Adobe Camera RAW are seeing some ‘refinements’ to the Color Range Masking tool.
And, finally, Adobe has added support for new cameras and lenses, including the Sony a7R III, Leica CL, iPhone X, and Google Pixel 2 among others.

You can read more about the December update on Adobe’s blog. CC subscribers just have to update their copy to the latest version to take advantage of all the features described above.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Snapdragon 845 will bring 10-bit color, faster burst and more to next year’s smartphones

07 Dec

With smartphones, image processing is as important—if not more important—than the camera hardware components themselves, which is why the chipset is a crucial element in the imaging pipeline. Most Android smartphones come equipped with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chipsets, and the company has just unveiled its latest top-end product, the Snapdragon 845.

We will probably see the Snapdragon 845 in many of 2018’s high-end devices, and that’s a very good thing for the camera system.

As you’d expect from any new chipset, it’s faster than the predecessor Snapdragon 835, comes with more integrated AI processing power and supports higher data speeds. However, the Snapdragon 845 also offers a range of important improvements in the imaging department.

Images can now be captured in 10-bit color with a Rec. 2020 gamut, offering a wider range of tones and hues than the previous 8-bit color. While that’s impressive, the 845’s capability to shoot 60 frames per second at 16MP is even more important when you consider image stacking applications, such as HDR modes or low-light modes that combine several frames to average out noise and improve overall quality.

Another area of improvement is slow-motion video. Next year’s Android flagships will be able to record an impressive 480fps slow motion at 720p in HDR—unfortunately, 1080p resolution will still be limited to 120 fps, lagging behind the current iPhones’ 240 fps capability. Qualcomm is catching up with Apple in terms of video frame rates, though. Like the iPhones 8, 8Plus and X, Snapdragon 845-equipped phones will be able to record 4K footage at 60 fps.

The Xaomi Mi 7 will be the first 2018 model to come with the new chipset, but it’s also expected to be installed on the Samsung Galaxy S9 (which may also come with a variable aperture…). Other brands will likely follow soon after, giving mobile photographers a lot to look forward to in 2018.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Phase One unveils Capture One 11 with ‘next level layers’ and more

01 Dec

Watch out Adobe. Early this morning, Phase One unveiled the next major update to Capture One. The new version, Capture One 11, promises improvements in every regard: from “new, highly responsive tools,” to “workflow enhancements” to a new “finely tuned processing engine.”

Here’s a quick introduction to what’s new in Capture One 11 straight from Phase One itself:

The major improvements can be broken down into three categories: layers, workflow, and performance.

Performance

When Phase One talks about ‘optimized’ performance, the company is not just talking about how quickly Capture One can open and edit your Raw files. Included in these improvements is ‘re-engineered’ color handling, as well as the addition of a LAB Readout option for “customers who wish to measure image output to critical values.”

‘Next Level Layers’

With this update, Phase One is now characterizing Capture One 11 as a ‘layer centric application.’ All of the program’s adjustment tools are now compatible with layers, masking tools have been improved with the ability to refine and feather masks after drawing, and you can now control the opacity of individual layers.

Workflow

Since Capture One 11 is trying to be “the professionals’ choice in imaging software,” several improvements have also been made on the workflow side.

You can now add annotations and graphics on top of your image as overlays, and export them as separate layers in a PSD file; crops can be added as a ‘Path’ when exporting to a PSD file, so you don’t lose any pixels if you transfer out to Photoshop; and, finally, you can now export watermarks as a separate layer in an exported PSD file as well.

As with all major Adobe competitors—and Capture One is arguably one of the best-known and most widely-used—the message Phase One wants to send loud and clear is, “we care about our customers’ needs.” In fact, you could say Phase One stopped just short of calling Adobe out by name in its announcement:

In keeping with Phase One’s commitment to its customers’ choice, Capture One 11 is available for purchase by either perpetual license or by subscription – whichever best suits the customers’ needs.

For photographers eager to escape Adobe’s subscription-only model, Capture One 11 represents a very tempting choice.

Capture One 11 is available now for both Mac and Windows at $ 300 for a brand-new perpetual license or $ 20/month on subscription (or $ 180 if you pay for a year in advance). If you already own Capture One Pro 9 or 10, you can get a perpetual license for just $ 120, and if you purchased Capture One Pro 10 on October 31st, 2017 or later, you can actually upgrade to Capture One 11 for free by using your same license key.

To learn more or download a fully-functional 30-day free trial, head over to the Phase One website.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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How to Use the Background to Create More Storytelling Images

24 Nov

Sometimes you’re so focused on capturing the moment that you forget to pay attention to what’s in the background of your photo. When you look at your photos later, you realize that there are all sorts of distractions in the background. One way to overcome these distractions is to use the background to help with storytelling in your photo.

Even though “the moment” is likely the most important part of your photo, good moments always happen in a place. Use the background to show where your moment or story takes place.

Think of People as Characters

The first thing I recommend is thinking of the people in your photo as characters. When you’re going to take a picture of somebody ask, “Who is this character and what are they doing?” When you answer these questions you’ll be able to choose a good background to help tell that story.

Storytelling background 15

This is a photo of my son. I wasn’t thinking of him merely as my son, but rather as a “hiker.” Thinking of him as a hiker helped me choose a background that portrayed the story of a hiker.

Two Ways to Choose a Background

There are two ways to choose a background for your photo.

You can begin with your character and then choose the right background for them.
Or, you can begin with a good background and then look for a character to put into the scene.

Finding a Background that Matches Your Character

Keep in mind the two questions to ask yourself; “Who is this character and what are they doing?”

In this photo, the character is my infant son and he is sleeping in a carrier on my wife’s back. It’s a cute picture, but there is no way to tell from the background where we were when this took place.

This is a nice photo, but the background doesn’t add to the story.

We were on a camping trip and I knew I wanted a collection of photos that would show that. So I repositioned myself to find a better perspective and show the camp trailer in the background. This added a sense of place to the photo.

The camp trailer in the background adds context to the photo of the sleeping infant.

Later on that summer it came time to chop wood for the winter. My little guy wanted to help daddy!

Naturally, I wanted a photo of him trying to chop wood. Depending on the perspective I chose there could have been trees, water, or a wood pile in the background. Since this is a photo about chopping wood, I chose to have the woodpile in the background.

There is even some wood in the foreground, reminding me of what a big job we had that summer!

The huge pile of wood is a natural background for the little wood chopper. Plus it emphasizes how small he is comparatively.

Next time you’re about to snap a photo of somebody, stop and consider your background. Can you move around in order to get a good background to help with storytelling?

Finding a Character to Fit the Background

There may be times when you want to photograph an interesting scene but feel that there is something missing. Perhaps it is the character that is missing. When you come across an interesting scene, go ahead and photograph it. But also wait and allow that scene to become a background for some interesting characters.

When we visited Halls Harbour in Nova Scotia, the rugged shoreline was an obvious feature to photograph. I experimented with different angles and perspectives, but I knew I needed some good characters in the scene. Finally, a couple with their dog came walking down the shoreline. When the man began skipping stones out into the water I knew that these were the characters I was awaiting.

These people and their dog were the perfect additions to the rugged shoreline.

Instead of just a photo of a beautiful landscape, this has become a story about a family on an adventure. To me, skipping stones into the water is a nostalgic sort of moment, so I decided this story looked best in black and white.

Make a story

When the tide was low we could walk out into the harbor amongst the ships that were now resting on the ground. Again, this was an interesting scene that just seemed to be missing a character. Then my son came tip-toeing through the mud and became the perfect character to fit the scene.

When I let my imagination carry me away, I pretend that my son has pulled the plug in the harbor and all the water has drained out. He better sneak away before he gets caught!

Using framing

On a trip to Niagara Falls, we ducked into a building to get some relief from the cold wind and mist from the falls. Through the windows, we could see the falls and a rainbow that was produced through the mist. I wanted to take a photo but waited until my kids went and stood in the window. This allows the falls and rainbow to make up the background while my kids are the characters in the scene.

The characters in the foreground allow the viewer’s attention to be drawn to the falls and rainbow in the background.

Plan ahead

In these next two examples, I used our house as a background for the photo. We were getting ready to move in the spring and I knew we needed a few more photos, by which to remember this old house. So I was determined to use our house as a setting and photograph more scenes with it in the background.

That winter, we built a snow hill nearly as tall as the house itself. That was a perfect opportunity to photograph an exciting event with our home in the background.

A low angle helped to capture this epic moment right in our front yard. The snow hill towers in front of the house in the background.

Our kids will always remember their first childhood home (and the fun they had there) when they look back on these photos.

Next time you come across a nice scene, go ahead and photograph the scene by itself. Once you have done this, you can look for a character to add to the scene, allowing it to become a background for their story. This is a perfect approach for both landscape and street photography. Choose the background and then wait for the character to come along.

Symbolic Backgrounds

So far, all of the backgrounds in these photos have been literal scenes. But you can use a background to give your story some symbolic meaning as well. You do this by finding a background that makes you think deeper than the literal object itself. For example, a sunset in the background isn’t just about the sun, perhaps it’s about “romance” or “a happy ending.”

In this example, my wife is tying up vines in a vineyard. This is a job that needs to be done in the spring before any green actually appears on the vines. There really wasn’t anything nice near her to use as a background, except golden light from the setting sun.

To me, vineyards are about long days of outdoor work, and the romance of shared wine. The warm setting sun was the perfect symbolic background to express these feelings.

The golden sun in the background of this photo is symbolic of the day’s end, and the romance of wine and vineyards.

When you’re photographing a character doing something interesting, ask yourself if there is anything in the background that adds symbolic meaning to what they’re doing.

I have lots of photos of my kids reading books. The following photo is an example of a very boring background that does not help to tell a story.

This background is distracting. The bed leg is growing out of their shoulders and pulls our attention away from what the kids are doing.

You can come up with some great backgrounds for people reading books. A library or a coffee shop would be two good choices for your background. But these are obvious choices and perhaps you could choose a symbolic background instead. Think about the nature of reading and how a person grows as they learn.

This is exactly the sort of place that many people would sit and read a book. There is something about old leather chairs that invite you to nestle in and read. Behind the chair is a wood grain wall. Wood is something that grows. Wood is symbolic of the “growth” that happens when a child learns and reads.

Keep your eye open for backgrounds that are symbolic of the story you want to tell.

Using the Background to Tell a Story in Multiple Photos

When you find a good background, go ahead and use it in different ways to expand on your story.

The following photos are all from Hopewell Rocks in New Brunswick. Every tourist who has ever been there, walks away with the same photos from the same perspectives, so I challenged myself to come away with something different. I wanted photos of the rocks, so I used them as the background for the scene and then waited for interesting characters to come along.

The first thing I noticed was lots of tourists rushing around snapping pictures of the rocks. They were always getting in the way of the photo I was taking, so I gave up and took pictures of them instead.

I like how this tourist blends into the rocks. As they reached out their arms to take a photo, their arms mimicked the circle shapes in the rocks.

Two-year-olds are notoriously difficult to photograph. I wanted to take a photo of my daughter with the rocks in the background. But all she wanted to do was chew on saltwater stones. She had been doing this on our entire trip. We were constantly telling her to get the rocks out of her mouth.

If you’re going to photograph a two-year-old, you might just as well photograph her doing what she loves. And what better background for her photo than the massive rocks?

The tide was rising quickly and would soon cover the massive rock formations. In our last moments there something spectacular happened. A park ranger made his own rock formation by balancing several odd shaped rocks on each other.

What a contrast between the massive Hopewell Rocks and the man-made formation. The force of the tide eroded one set of rocks over a long period of time and will quickly topple the rocks that have been so carefully balanced by the ranger.

When you stick with a scene long enough wonderful things happen and your mind will find symbolic meaning that you otherwise might have missed.

You’ll Enjoy Your Photos More When Your Background Adds to the Story

Don’t let your backgrounds be a disappointing afterthought. Instead, consider how the background in your photo can add storytelling elements to your character.

Remember the steps:

When you’re going to take a picture of somebody, first ask yourself, “Who is this character and what are they doing?” When you answer these questions you’ll be able to choose a good background for storytelling.
You can choose a background for your character, or find a good background and wait for the perfect character to come along.
Try using backgrounds to give symbolic meaning to your photos.
Use the background in different ways over several photos.

When you pay attention to the background your photos will become less sloppy and more meaningful. Please share some of your images with storytelling backgrounds in the comments below.

The post How to Use the Background to Create More Storytelling Images by Mat Coker appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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ON1 Photo RAW 2018 takes on Lightroom with more features and improved Raw processing

10 Nov

After releasing it in beta last month, ON1 has officially announced the latest version of its image editing and organization software: ON1 Photo RAW 2018. With this newest version, ON1 wants to establish its application as a viable alternative to Adobe’s Lightroom, and says most of the improvements to the new version are a direct result of community input.

The new app comes with an updated raw processing engine and a new HDR function that merges a bracket of photos for increased dynamic range. Pano Stitching combines multiple photos into a single panoramic image and a host of new masking tools allow for precise selection of image areas and background masking.

ON1 has also updated the UI for a cleaner and more modern look, and has added support for the Nikon D850, Olympus EM-10 III, Panasonic DMC-G85, preliminary support for Sony a7R III, and a range of new lenses.

Other features include: re-editable adjustments for exposure, contrast, color, shadows, highlights, lens correction, and transform tools, as well as hundreds of customizable photo effects.

ON1 Photo RAW 2018 for Mac and Windows is available now for download as a free 30-day trial from the ON1 website. Previous owners of any ON1 app (or ON1 plug-in) can upgrade to the new version for $ 100, while new users will have to pay $ 120. However, a single license can be activated on up to five computers.

For more information and a full list of updates, check out the video below and read the full press release below that.

Press Release

Portland, OR – November 9, 2017 – Today, ON1, Inc. announced ON1 Photo RAW 2018 is officially available. Along with the essential tools and features needed in a photography workflow, ON1 Photo RAW 2018 includes key updates to the fast, non-destructive raw processing engine. Photographers now have an integrated tool with accelerated photo management, precise photo development, hundreds of customizable photo effects, fast and beautiful HDR, pano stitching, masking and blending adjustments, layers, and much more – in one app.

From the beginning the ON1 community has driven the development of ON1 Photo RAW based on what’s most important to them. Almost every feature and improvement made to the app in version 2018 is a direct result of community input through the ON1 Photo RAW Project.

This type of transparency is what customers can continue to expect from the ON1 team. This process has solidified ON1 Photo RAW as the app designed by photographers for photographers and a great alternative to Adobe® Lightroom®.

ON1 Photo RAW 2018 includes major updates and enhancements in many areas. Key new features include the following.

ON1 HDR – Create stunning HDR photos that merge all tonality from a bracket of photos in a fraction of the time (test results have shown up to seven times faster than other HDR apps). Automatically aligns photos and removes ghosting from motion between exposures. Includes full non-destructive editing with natural results and can be turned up to 11 for a surreal look.
Pano Stitching – Combine multiple photos into a single panoramic or matrix photo. Automatically aligns photos, even if they are not shot on a tripod, and blends them together seamlessly. An option to embed panoramic metadata for Facebook panning is also available.
Global Mask Editing Tools – These include new mask Density and Feather sliders to allow for changing the density or opacity of masks as well as blur masks for softening.
Luminosity Mask Updates – Adjust the levels of a mask to increase the contrast or brightness as well as set a tonal window to only affect a certain zone. These updates allow users to target just the area they want, based on the photo.
Color Range Masks – Create a mask from a color range selection.
Blur and Chisel Mask Tools – In ON1 Effects, the Blur and Chisel mask tools are now included. The blur tool is perfect for softening or feathering a mask selectively. The Chisel tool lets the user push or pull the edge selectively, to remove halos. All of these new masking options are re-editable and non-destructive.
Versions — Versions are virtual copies of the same photo. Each version created can include non-destructive settings, including crop, retouching and adjustments. Versions work just like any other photo without taking up more space on your computer.
Updated UI — Clean and modern UI where your photo is the center of attention. Custom name filters and layers to easier keep track of work. Also select your own UI accent color.
Paint with Color Brush — Painting with color can be a solid color, perfect for skin smoothing and making annotation layers, or paint with just the color and leave the underlying luminosity in place to change the color of objects like eyes.
Selectively Add or Remove Noise — Brush away noise in areas like skies or add noise for an artistic effect.
Improved Highlight Recovery –– The algorithms for highlight recovery have been improved.
ON1 Photo for Mobile — Take the best shots with you on the go with the free ON1 Photo for Mobile app. It’s a great way to share portfolios. It can also sync new photos taken on phones back to the desktop so those photos are ready for editing.
Additional Camera & Lens Support — Added support for the Nikon D850, Olympus EM-10 III, Panasonic DMC-G85, preliminary support for Sony a7R III, plus a ton of new lenses.

ON1 Photo RAW 2018 differentiates itself from other apps by allowing photographers to both browse and catalog their photos from the very beginning of their workflow. This hybrid system provides one of the fastest digital asset management tools available today. The ultra fast photo browser is perfect for quickly viewing and culling through photos without having to wait on an import process. Once the culling process is complete, the ability to create and catalog those photos is the next step in common workflows.

There is plenty more available within the app’s non-destructive photo development. These features include re-editable adjustments such as exposure, contrast, color, shadows, highlights, lens correction, and transform tools. The hundreds of unique photo effects are also perfect for finishing off your photos to add that extra punch. Photographers have complete control of how each effect is applied using masking brushes, gradients masks, and local adjustments. Each effect is also completely customizable to save any look as a custom preset.

Photo editing technologies such as live blending options, apply to, smart layers, smart photos, and mask refinement tools also make ON1 Photo RAW 2018 a more advanced pixel editor without having to launch a separate app. The ability to combine photos together with layers, masks, and selectively apply filters and effects to raw photos gives users a big advantage.

ON1 Photo RAW 2018 isn’t just for raw files. Supported file formats include JPEG, TIF, PSD, PSB, PNG, and DNG are supported and benefit from the speed, performance, and abundance of editing tools in the app. Photo RAW 2018 also continues to work seamlessly within current photography workflows. The app integrates as a plug-in for Adobe® Lightroom® Classic CC and Photoshop® and further builds its case as a complete standalone photo editor or alternative to the Adobe Photography Plan. Version 2018 also integrates with the major cloud services to allow for uploading, managing and editing photos across multiple computers. This also allows users to sync photos and their edits across multiple computers or in a studio setting.

Price and Availability

ON1 Photo RAW 2018 is available for download as a free 30-day trial from the ON1 website. Previous owners of any ON1 app (or ON1 plug-in) can upgrade for $ 99.99. Those who don’t own an ON1 app can order for $ 119.99. ON1 Photo RAW 2018 is also bundled with some excellent bonus materials which include: Three ON1 Photo RAW 2018 Courses by Product Director Dan Harlacher, and all of their 2017 and 2018 Loyalty Rewards. ON1 Photo RAW 2018 works with both Mac and Windows and includes activation on up to five computers.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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7 Tips to Get More Creative Photos of Well-Known Landmarks

02 Nov

Photographing landmark buildings when you visit a new place, or even places closer to home is a great way to get stand out photos. Often the architectural beauty of the natural or man-made landmark will make the image dramatic, you simply need to compose the photo well.

In this article, you’re going to see the standard photo, and then how to make more creative images of well-known landmarks. You’ll see a case study of how to shoot one particular landmark in many different ways.

7 Tips to Get More Creative Photos of Well-Known Landmarks

This photo was taken from the Trader’s Hotel in Kuala Lumpur. It shows the Petronas Twin Towers.

1 – The standard photo

Ahead of photographing more creative images of landmarks the aim is to make the best standard photograph you can. Chances are that a quick search on a photo sharing site like 500px.com will reveal this, so there is no need to re-invent the wheel here.

Once you know which landmark you want to photograph, the next step is to find out where that photo was taken from, if the same image has been taken many times there will likely be a viewing platform.

Once you are in position it’s time to compose your photo. It’s better if you can use a slightly different composition to those used before, perhaps try a vertical shot.

The last step is to ensure you have good images to process once you return home. Bracketing your images when the sky is brighter than the foreground will allow you to use creative post-processing techniques like digital blending. Alternatively, you can use graduated neutral density filters, and get your photograph exposed correctly in camera, with a single frame.

2 – Paint with light for creative images of landmarks

This photo shows how light painting can be used to create your own image.

One of the most creative things you can do in photography is light painting. There are several forms of this technique and each can give you dramatic results.

This is innovative in that the results will be your own, and difficult for someone else to replicate. Let’s take a look at the different forms of light painting that you could try.

Light painting – Most people know light painting as writing their name with a torch (flashlight) in front of the camera. How about light painting around a landmark to add a creative edge? Those really interested in should look into buying the pixelstick.
Kinetic light painting – This refers to moving the camera, as opposed to moving the light source. Examples of kinetic light painting are camera rotation and zoom bursts.
Lighting up an object – You can light up a landmark using a strong flashlight, providing it’s not too far away. Using lights to brighten a landmark can make it stand out even more in the frame.

Camera rotation is a good way to make a creative image of a landmark.

3 – Infrared photos of landmarks

Make creative images of landmarks by using infrared photography! There are several avenues to achieving this look, and you have a choice of in-camera or post-processing.

The classic infrared photos show lots of foliage, sky, and usually a water element. The effect creates a dreamscape image by turning the sky black, and the foliage white. Infrared photography is best done on a clear sunny day, with a few clouds to create more interest.

The following are the three avenues open to you to create these photos when shooting with a digital camera.

Take a normal photo, and use post-processing to give the image the look of an infrared photo.
Add an infrared filter to the front of your lens. To get the infrared look you will need to take your file and process it on the computer.
Convert your camera body so that it’s usable for infrared photography, again further processing will be required.

Though this photo uses the same composition of a previous one above, the mood is changed by using an infrared technique.

4 – Get those detail photos!

It’s always a good idea to take some detail photos of a landmark, these are texture images that often use repeating patterns. When photographing a landmark building, whether it’s old or new, you can use bricks or glass windows to create these texture photos.

Photos of natural formations will also have good details. Cliff faces may, for instance, have good lines and textures in them. The aim with this type of photo is to show detail, but at the same time make it obvious which landmark you are photographing. This could be structures that are unique to that particular landmark.

When shooting glass windows, is there a reflection in those windows that will give the photo context? When photographing landmarks always try to get detail photos to add more variety to the set of photos.

Creative images of landscapes can be achieved using detail photos. The metallic structure of the tower and the Malaysian flag lend context.

5 – See another world with refraction

An alternative way of producing a unique landscape image is through using refraction. A transparent spherical object will be needed for this, there are several options available. The best objects for producing this effect are a wine glass filled with water, a crystal ball, or perhaps a clear marble.

This is a great way of capturing a large area of your scene, with the effect in the refracting object being similar to a fish-eye lens. The image inside the ball will be upside down, so managing this aspect of the photo is important. This technique is a lot of fun, though the need to carry around a heavy glass ball can be taxing.

Refraction is a great method of producing a unique image, this one also shows a reflection.

6 – Long exposure for artistic effect

A great way to produce creative images of landmarks is to play around with long exposures. This is a variable that can be used in different ways to great artistic effect. It’s more common to carry out long exposure at dusk, or during the night; however using an ND filter will allow you to take long exposures during the day.

Here are three ways you can use long exposures:

Car light trails – This is a form of light painting. In this case, the car headlights will paint their way through your frame, along the road you’re photographing.
Cloud movement – If there are clouds in the sky, and they’re moving fast enough, you can use a long exposure to capture this motion.
Moving water – Similar to the above cloud movement, but with water! The main subject is, of course, your landmark, but if that landmark has water near it, then use that to your advantage.

All good landscape photographers carry a tripod, and anyone planning this type of photo will need one. Your exposures will be anywhere from one second to several minutes long.

Long exposure photos of car light trails are a staple of photography. Here the road leads up to the Petronas towers on the horizon.

7 – Change your vantage point

The angle that you photograph a landmark at can have a dramatic effect on the type of photo taken. Today the sky literally is the limit, as drones allow for the overhead photos that were previously out of reach.

But a drone is not the only way to achieve a good photo by changing your vantage point. The standard photo is that at street (eye) level, so any variant on that changes the type of photo.

Bird’s eye view – This type of photo is taken from a high vantage point, where you will photograph downwards. The most extreme example would be a drone, or perhaps an airplane.
Worm’s eye view – The opposite of a bird’s eye view, this is taken from street level looking upwards. You will need to be close to the landmark you are photographing.

The challenge with this is finding a good location that allows a view of your landmark. In the city, this will mean getting access to a rooftop, or viewing platform. In a more rural setting, it means climbing a mountain!

A worm’s eye view can give you a different style of photo.

How will you make creative images of landmarks?

There are many ways to photograph a famous landmark in your own unique way. How do you go about putting your own stamp on a location that has been photographed many times before?

Have you tried any of the above suggestions? Can you revisit one of your previous photo locations, and photograph it totally differently? We’d love to see the results of your work past and present, please share with the community in the comments area below.

The Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur has been photographed many times. It can be a challenge to find a unique photo.

The post 7 Tips to Get More Creative Photos of Well-Known Landmarks by Simon Bond appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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The free Focos app brings more professional looking bokeh to your dual-cam iPhone

01 Nov

Apple’s ‘Portrait Mode’ on the company’s dual-camera iPhones is a cool feature that produces some neat photos. But if you’re not a fan of the fake bokeh Apple’s standard camera app generates, you might want to check out a free new app called Focos.

Created by the same indie developer behind the apps Colorburn and MaxCurve, Focos takes your iPhone 7 Plus, 8 Plus or X’s Portrait Mode shots and makes them look more ‘professional’ by adding more realistic and customizable bokeh effects.

Focos allows you to pick custom bokeh ‘shapes’, generate more professional-looking bokeh by selecting options like ‘creamy’ or ‘swirly’, import your current Portrait Mode photos and re-edit the background, and re-focus Portrait Mode photos after the fact. And since it’s already capturing 3D data, the app allows you to access that data and apply filters based on depth.

The results should ostensibly look better than what Apple is generating with its own Camera app, but at the very least they’ll be more customizable so you can find a more appropriate effect for every photo.

To learn more about Focos or pick up the free app for yourself, head over to the Focos website or go straight to the iTunes App Store.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Hasselblad X1D and H6D firmware update adds Touchpad AF and more

25 Oct

Hasselblad has released firmware update 1.19 for the X1D and H6D, adding new support and settings to the systems, as well as custom buttons and the ability to create a new folder. Notably, the firmware update brings support for V System lenses via the CF Adapter for the H6D, and it makes the X1D overall “more user friendly and customizable” by adding features like Touch-pad selection of the AF point.

You can read the changelogs for both firmware updates below.

X1D Firmware Update

The update for the X1D-50c includes the following new features:

Touch-pad selection of AF point
New setting: Live view in EVF only
Custom buttons
New setting: Max aperture (Lens bokeh)
Create new folder
Toggle overlay in Video Live View with display button

H6D-Firmware Update

The update for the H6D-50c & H6D-100c includes the following new features:

Support for CF adapter
Grip button lock
Custom buttons (more functions)
Create new folder
Toggle overlay in Video Live View with display button

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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More Nikon D850 samples images added

22 Oct

Our review process is based both on studio testing and real-world shooting. We make sure every camera goes through the hands of several photographers and is shot in a variety of circumstances, to give a broad representation of how the camera will perform.

All those images and experiences are considered as we draw our conclusions about a camera. So, even if you’ve looked through the D850 gallery before, you may well find there are shots you’ve not seen before. Take a look, and be sure to check out the full review if you haven’t already.

$ (document).ready(function() { SampleGalleryV2({“containerId”:”embeddedSampleGallery_5682971467″,”galleryId”:”5682971467″,”isEmbeddedWidget”:true,”standalone”:false,”selectedImageIndex”:0,”startInCommentsView”:false,”isMobile”:false}) });
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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6 Simple Tips to Capture More Expressive Images of Your Children

22 Oct

Images of your children are probably THE most important images you will ever make, even if it doesn’t feel like it. But for the longest time what I did was make very superficial images of my kids, until I started applying a few of the tips below. Follow along to get more intimate and expressive images of your children too.